The present invention relates to ammunition, and in particular, a system for protecting anti-tank ammunition from corrosion.
Many defensive vehicles carry ammunition or rounds which are fired from the vehicle during a combat situation. For example, tanks often carry various rounds which are stored within the tank prior to being fired from a gun turret of the tank.
One example of a round carried by most tanks is a 105 millimeter (mm) anti-tank round. An exemplary anti-tank round 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The round 10 includes two basic parts: a shell casing 20 and a uranium dart tip 30. The uranium dart tip 30 is bonded to the shell casing 20 by a lead packing material 40.
Tanks which carry rounds, such as round 10 described above, often include metal (e.g. steel) tubes disposed therein for carrying the rounds when they are not in use. FIG. 2 shows a conventional ammunition storage system 15 which includes a metal tube 50 for storing an ammunition round, such as round 10. The metal tube 50 is preferably mounted to the inner wall of the tank so that the tube is disposed parallel to the floor of the tank, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 2. Rounds, such as the anti-tank round 10 described above, are initially placed into the metal tube 50 by sliding a dart end 11 of the round into a rear end 52 of the tube. The round 10 is then moved forward in the metal tube 50 until the dart end 11 of the round extends from a front end 51 of the tube. The round 10 remains stored in the metal tube 50 until it is needed for firing from the gun turret of the tank. When the round 10 is needed for firing, it is removed from the tube 50 in the same manner in which it was inserted.
A problem associated with the above ammunition storage system 15 is that galvanic corrosion often occurs on the rounds 10 while they are disposed in the tank due to the temperature difference between the interior tank walls and the inside air temperature of the tank. The cool walls present inside the tank as compared to the warm air present inside the tank often causes condensation to form inside the tank. This condensation causes galvanic corrosion to form at the point of the rounds where the uranium dart tip 30 and the shell casing 20 come together (i.e. where the lead packing material 40 is located). When rounds 10 with significant corrosion are attempted to be fired from the gun turret of the tank, the gun turret will backfire, causing damage to the interior of the tank and its occupants.
Thus, there is currently a need for a system for protecting anti-tank rounds from corrosion.
The present invention is an apparatus including a tube with a first cap disposed at a first end of the tube, and a second cap disposed at a second opposing end of the tube. The first cap includes a one-way valve which allows gas to escape the tube, but which prevents gas from entering the tube.
The above and other advantages and features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.